Showing in pictures, the life of a small town freelance photojournalist living in rural Cambria County Pennsylvania. Most of the photographs are things I shoot just because they happen to trip my trigger. This blog started out as a way to connect friends and family who no longer live in the area with their hometowns. The site is now enjoyed by many from the Northern Cambria area, including military personnel and college students.

Sunday, July 04, 2010

Mr. Doll Returns to Washington

It's been two years since we were last in Washington, DC. This time we stayed for four days.

Friday -- 25 June 2010

Seeing that we were going to be in Washington so my wife could attend the American Library Association Conference, I thought it was only appropriate to photograph the Chevy Chase Branch Library as we were driving down Connecticut Avenue towards the city.

American flag hanging inside the Grand Hyatt Hotel. I shot this from the eleventh floor.

A piano which once served to entertain hotel guests now sits idle near one of the hotel restaurants.

Having arrived in town a few hours ahead of schedule we took the opportunity to tour the local area and saw this FBI Mobile Command Center sitting outside the FBI Building on 9th and Pennsylvania Avenue.

While looking for somewhere reasonable to eat, we happened upon a group of people learning to ride Segways prior to taking a three hour tour around DC.

Sculpture in downtown WDC.

If you just want to ride around and see the sights of Washington, DC, the best way is the open-air double-decker buses. One company runs the traditional British double-decker right hand drive while another company runs left hand drive buses. Little did I know at the time that I shot this picture that I would be riding on one of the buses. At a cost of $35 for two days plus a tour to see the district at night, this is also the cheapest way to get around town and you can get on and off the bus at anytime at one of their 29 stops.

Roof top vent pipes on the building across the street from our hotel.

Donald W. Reynolds Center at the National Portrait Gallery.

The Friendship Archway, dedicated in 1986, which welcomes visitors to Chinatown, was a short walk from our hotel.

Chinatown is the most colorful section of all Washington.

Signs outside a Sushi bar near the Verizon Center in Chinatown.

What really caught my eye in this photograph were the words "Legal Sea Foods" as if someone would be advertising illegal seafoods.

One of the quickest ways to get around the District and not have normal everyday parking issues are motor scooters.

A repeat of a shot that I took on my last visit to Washington were these buildings along Connecticut Avenue. The only difference is that this time I'm standing 13 feet above the sidewalk, which is a different perspective than when I shot the original picture while driving through the underpass on DuPont Circle.

A mural of Marilyn Monroe along Connecticut and Calvert where the tour bus makes it's turn heading towards the National Cathedral.

Arlington National Cemetery.

The Smithsonian Folklife Festival was being held on the national mall. I stopped at the Asian Pacific Americans tent to listen to some traditional music played on Japanese string instruments called koto. To play the instrument the 13 strings are plucked .

In a separate tent across the street from the mall the Smithsonian had a portable gift shop set up displaying goods from all the nations participating in the festivities.

Capital Building of the United States of America.As I said before, being on top of a tour bus gives a completely different aspect to the photographs because you can shot straight at your subject rather than up at it.

Union Station, the beginning and end of the tour as shot from the rear of the bus.

Entrance to the National Press Building.

Looking down at the lobby and restaurant area of the Grand Hyatt from the eleventh floor.

The Greater New Hope Baptist Church just off H Street in Chinatown.

Bathroom at the end of the hallway at Potbellies Restaurant in Chinatown where we enjoyed a really good sandwich and a cold bottle of Orange Crush for supper on Saturday night.

Sunday -- June 27, 2010

Even though I was an hour ahead of schedule as far as getting on the tour bus for my second day of touring I headed out of the hotel at 8 a.m. so that I could be sure to get to the Ford's Theatre before any of the tourists were out of bed and the vendors and tour bus drivers were just eating their breakfast. Because of that I was able to get this photograph of Ford 's Theatre, where Abraham Lincoln was assassinated and the Petersen House across the street that he was carried to and where he later died.

I spent my final few hours just walking around the neighborhood of the hotel while I waited for my wife to finish up her last meetings for the day.

I came across this guy playing trumpet while being accompanied by a karaoke machine in a subway entrance on H Street.

Portrait of a trumpet player.

New York Avenue Presbyterian Church.

The New York Avenue Sculpture Project, outside of the National Museum of Women in the Arts along New York Avenue near 13th Street. These sculptures were done by French-born artist Niki de Saint Phalle (1930–2002).

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